


Heartbeat

by victorialukas



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dorks in Love, Entrapdak, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Medical Inaccuracies, Oblivious Entrapta (She-Ra), One Shot, Post-Canon, Soft Hordak (She-Ra), This Is STUPID
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26452087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victorialukas/pseuds/victorialukas
Summary: In the days after the final battle between the Rebellion and Horde Prime, Hordak (along with the others recovering from mind control) is being monitored at Bright Moon. When Entrapta visits him, she notices something strange: either the technology is malfunctioning, or Hordak's heart rate speeds up whenever he sees her.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), background catradora - Relationship, background glimbow
Comments: 11
Kudos: 122





	Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic was sparked by a Reddit post I found on Tumblr. There was something very romantic to me about it, and knowing Entrapta’s science-focused mind, I thought it would be cool to explore her discovering Hordak’s feelings for her through SUCH CLEAR EVIDENCE hitting her in the face. I don’t know if EKGs are a thing in Etheria, but they are now.

Three days had passed since the Rebellion’s victory over Horde Prime. Hordak, as well as the others recovering from mind control, were being monitored at Bright Moon. Although Entrapta realized there was a logical reason behind it, it seemed unfair that they should be separated again so quickly. She’d just gotten him back. Meanwhile, Queen Glimmer was spearheading a plan for former Horde members and clones to participate in rebuilding the parts of Etheria that had been destroyed in the war. “Restorative justice,” she called it.

Entrapta didn’t mind. This would be a chance to put her skills to use: maybe she could even re-program robots like Emily to help. What did bother her, though, was the crowd at Bright Moon. It was overwhelming. The spare rooms were full of people—patients and the castle’s medical staff. Glimmer decided Prime’s victims would be monitored for a week minimum before they could go home or, in some cases, begin their community service duties. Catra would be taking on such duties as well, but as she’d been recovered from Prime’s influence for longer, she was permitted to stay in Adora’s room as long as Adora promised to be her escort when she walked castle grounds. For the new couple, this was hardly an issue.

For Entrapta’s part, she was staying with Glimmer in her room (somewhat to Bow’s chagrin, though he tried not to show it). The queen emphasized that no one was a prisoner, and the precautions they were taking were for security reasons only—not punishment. Bright Moon was fine, but Entrapta still didn’t feel as if she’d mastered the art of friendship. She held no ill-will towards the other princesses, not even Catra, but that didn’t make it easy. That was why, when she asked Glimmer’s permission to visit Hordak, she was thrilled when the queen said she could visit as much as she wanted, as long as it was within reasonable hours.

There had been some controversy over Glimmer’s decision to shy away from punitive measures. “I don’t want there to be any more suffering in Etheria,” she’d insisted. A few of the other princesses (not to mention Micah) felt that Hordak especially needed to pay for the severity of his crimes. Glimmer had pushed back against the idea of exile, although she admitted she understood where the others were coming from.

“Maybe...maybe he could become a ward of Dryl, staying with you, Entrapta,” she’d said. “After your community service is complete. He’d have to swear to stay away from the Fright Zone and you’d both be barred from experimenting with any destructive technology.”

“Hordak? Living with me in Dryl?” Entrapta had said, taken aback. Surprised as she was, though, she liked the idea. “I’ll have to talk to him.”

*****

Entrapta spotted Hordak quickly. His eyes had faded back to red, making it easy to tell him apart from the other clones, even at a distance. Like all the other patients, he was sitting up on a hospital bed and was attached EKG machine to track his heart rate. She wanted to call out to him, but she bit her tongue. The castle staff often scolded her for being “loud,” even though she thought her speaking volume was totally reasonable. She hurried over to him, dodging the other beds and people in the room. Hordak seemed to be deep in thought and didn’t notice her until she was almost right beside him.

He met Entrapta’s gaze and the machine, which had been beeping steadily, picked up a notch. Curious. His attendants were no doubt keeping an eye on that sort of thing, but Entrapta decided she would make a note of that in her datapad, just in case. If the technology monitoring him was defective, he wasn’t safe, and that was a problem. 

“Hi, Hordak. Are you in any pain?” she asked. Another possible explanation for the increased heart rate. 

“I am fine,” he said. “Are you?” 

“Don’t be silly! Everything is good. A little confusing, but good.” There was no chair by his bedside, so she did the next best thing and formed a makeshift seat with her prehensile hair. “I sure am glad I can visit you.”

“I am...glad, as well.”

Entrapta wasn’t always good with these things, but she knew Hordak. He was often a man of few words, sure. But he seemed different. Off. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes. It’s just rather dull around here.” He hesitated. “When _you’re_ not here, that is.”

Despite being unconvinced, Entrapta carried on. “So! As we both know, we’re going to be participating in the community service next week,” she said. “After that’s all done, I wondered if you would come back to Dryl with me?”

The beeping sped up again, ever so slightly. The average person might not have noticed. Entrapta, however, was more observant than the average person.

“You would like me to live in Dryl?” Hordak asked.

“Yes! I mean, only if _you_ would like that. There’s probably some equipment you’ll want to go back for, see what’s salvageable. Glimmer doesn’t want us back in the Fright Zone, but I think we could arrange something. I’ve been working on plans for your new armour, but it will have to wait until I have a proper workspace again.” She smiled. “I miss being lab partners.”

“Lab partners.”

“Uh huh.” Entrapta’s eyes flickered down to the hand closest to her, where the First Ones crystal rested in his open palm. When she looked back up, a small smile twitched as the corners of her friend’s mouth.

“I would like that very much,” Hordak said.

*****

Back in Glimmer’s room, Entrapta’s thoughts lingered on the visit. She debated sharing the details with the others, but decided to stay silent. They didn’t totally understand her friendship with Hordak. However, seeing the two couples—Bow and Glimmer, Adora and Catra—made her feel a pang of longing. Jealousy, even.

It wasn’t that she was romantically interested in any of the people in the room. But she was resentful of the fact that Catra could lie with her head in Adora’s lap, that Bow and Glimmer could sit there holding hands, while Hordak was confined to another part of the palace.

Wait. Did that mean she…?

“You’re quiet,” Bow said suddenly.

The five of them were sitting in a circle on the floor. The others had been chatting away while Entrapta leaned her back against Emily, lost in her own head until Bow’s words snapped her out of it. “Oh! Sorry!” she said, sitting up straight.

Bow chuckled. “You don’t have to be sorry. It’s just, uh, not like you.”

Adora shifted her attention from Catra to Entrapta. “Bow’s right. Is something bothering you?” She must have seen Entrapta’s hesitation, because she added, “You can talk to us. I know things have been weird, but we’re your friends.”

Glimmer and Bow nodded in agreement. Catra, meanwhile, had become very interested in studying her nails rather than taking part in the conversation.

“Well,” Entrapta sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. “Something happened when I visited Hordak this morning. Something that has caused me to re-evaluate our relationship.”

“Oh-kay…” Adora narrowed her eyes. “Go on.”

Entrapta took a deep breath and launched into the explanation with barely a pause. “You see, based on the reading from the machine, his heart rate increased when he saw me. And maybe I am skewing this information based on my own personal bias—maybe he was just excited to have a visitor and it had nothing to do with me, specifically—but I think it might mean something. And now I am going through our entire friendship in my head and thinking, WOW! We have something really special, and what if—"

“Entrapta! Slow down,” said Glimmer. She exchanged a look with Adora. “He has feelings for you.”

Although Entrapta stopped talking, her mouth still hung open.

“More-than-friend feelings,” Adora added. Catra muttered something about “ _really not wanting to hear about this,”_ but everyone else ignored it.

“Oh.”

It wasn’t exactly news to Entrapta that Hordak cared about her. Loved her, even. She certainly loved him. Unbeknownst to him, it was spelled out on that crystal he held: L, U, V, D. “Loved.” He was her best friend. It just hadn’t really occurred to Entrapta that Hordak could be _in love_ with her, and she with him.

“Do you feel that way about him?” asked Adora. “It’s okay if you do, you know.”

“It’s also okay if you don’t!” Bow interjected. This invited a glare from Adora and Glimmer. “I’m just saying!”

Entrapta put her hand over her own heart. “Evidence suggests that I do.”

*****

Over the days that followed, Entrapta continued to visit Hordak. They talked for hours, mostly about Entrapta’s plans to build tech that would aid in Etheria’s recovery from the war. Talking about tech was easy. Feelings were harder. She kept up a log after each visit, noting Hordak’s heartrate increases as well as her own physiological responses to being near him. On the seventh day—the last day Prime’s victims would be monitored—Entrapta finally spoke the words to Emily, into her recording device. “Conclusion: I am in love with him. Further information required to confirm if these sentiments are returned. The most practical thing to do is tell him how I feel.” The robot let out a few animated beeps.

It only made sense. Then why was she so nervous?

*****

Finally, all the patients that had been staying in the palace were released from care. They were all declared to be recovered without any lingering physical problems, although the trauma of recent events remained for most of them. Those who were able to go home left as soon as they could. Glimmer said everyone else was free to explore Bright Moon at will, but clones and other former Horde members had to report for community service duties the following day. Knowing she might not get another chance for a while, Entrapta decided she had to talk to Hordak. Thankfully, when she asked if he’d take a walk with her around castle grounds, he agreed right away.

Etheria was more peaceful than it had been in many years. As much as Entrapta enjoyed diving into projects, sometimes not going outside for days on end, she liked the serenity that existed in nature. Her own lab was one thing, but so many people packed into one place was another. It got far too loud and hectic at times. Padding through the grass with Hordak, she felt better than she had all week. It was hard to say if that was because of him, or the fresh air.

She didn’t even realize she was doing the whole _uncharacteristically quiet_ thing until Hordak piped up. “Is it unusual for Etherians to talk during walks?”

“No! No, not at all,” said Entrapta. “I was just thinking.”

Hordak nodded, looking at her expectantly. She thought there may have been a way to lead up to this conversation slowly, but truth be told, she had no idea how. She appreciated straightforwardness in others and often defaulted to bluntness herself.

“Actually, maybe we _should_ stop walking. I think I need to put all my focus into speaking.”

Wordlessly, Hordak halted and turned to face her. She avoided his eyes, instead scanning the various plants and flowers that decorated the grounds—many of which were likely grown by Perfuma. Entrapta felt a lump form in her throat. Terribly inconvenient, seeing as she had so much to say.

“I hope no one has caused you distress,” said Hordak. “I’d be happy to impress upon them the error of their ways.”

“It’s nothing like that,” replied Entrapta. She felt her cheeks heating up and resisted the urge to just pull down her welding mask so she could hide. She didn’t want to hide from him. “It’s just. Um. When I said I wanted you to live with me so we could be lab partners again, that was only part of the truth.” 

“I’m not certain I understand.”

“That’s because I’m not explaining myself very well. I know how to lay out instructions for just about any kind of experiment, but I don’t have a lot of experience with romantic relationships. And—no offence—I’m guessing you don’t, either...”

Hordak paused. “You want a romantic relationship with...me?”

“You don’t have to say anything right away!” Entrapta assured him. “If I misinterpreted the data, and you don’t feel the same way about me, that’s okay!”

“Entrapta.” To her surprise, he reached out to gently cup her cheek and turn her face towards him. “I would be a fool not to feel…”

Entrapta leaned into his touch. It was encouraging, so she continued. “Simply put, I want you to be with me. Romantically!”

“Romantically,” Hordak repeated. “I want that, too.”

She barely suppressed a squeal in response. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Entrapta didn’t usually find silence comfortable—unless she was working—but she happily revelled in the lull that followed as they looked at one another, smiling.

“I’d like to kiss you,” she said eventually, using her hair for extra height. “Would that be all right?”

“…Yes. That would be more than all right.”

Softy, she met his lips with hers. Warmth flooded her body. As Hordak pulled her closer, she could feel his heart beating against his chest.


End file.
